Saturday, January 31, 2015

To Match a Steed...Three Times!

As most of you know, the car I like to call "Inspiration" has been running on fumes for several weeks. It has been a struggle just to make an outfit, let alone log into LOTRO. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fill in the final Saturday of January with an original outfit. At the beginning of the month, I casually mentioned on Twitter that I had been running out of ideas. One follower, @AraeElimraen, wondered if I'd take a request. I love taking suggestions for concepts as well as a specific piece or two. It gives me a chance to see old skins in from a different perspective or forces me to find new or unusual combinations. Here's what had been proposed:

  • Use specific gear--namely the Golden Host Coat of Haleness and/or the Wood-wanderer's Cloak
  • Make an outfit befitting of a Mirkwood soldier, loosely based on Thranduil's armored appearance in Battle of the Five Armies
  • Make something that matches/compliments the Blue Roan Steed.

The first two ideas ended up going nowhere. Whatever I did create felt, at best, rushed and lacking completion. However, the idea to match this steed intrigued me...especially since I don't own it. It was removed from the Spring Festival token vendors before I started playing LOTRO and I refused to drop 70 mithril coins for one this year when it returned. I had to search for an image, several in fact, that way I knew what I was working with. For those of you who haven't seen it, here's a picture:

Image courtesy of  Wandering Around Arda
It's a dangerous assortment of colors--smokey grey, black, a silvery white, and a dark teal--and they would definitely present a challenge. I wasn't sure of what characters my Twitter follower had either, as this post is mostly for her. It took some time, but I came up with three ideas to suit different styles of clothing, race, gender, and character class while trying to match the steed itself, the caparison, or both.



These outfits are dedicated to those who own the Blue Roan Steed!


Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Gloom-bane (White, skirm camp cosmetics vendor - Rift Heavy Armor)
Back: Plain Cloak (Black, any starter area Outfitter)
Chest: Medium Nadhin Jacket (Turquoise, Dol Amroth Medium Armor vendor or post-50 world drop)
Hands: Ceremonial Gloves of the Gloom-bane (White, skirm camp cosmetics vendor - Rift Heavy Armor)**
Feet: Ceremonial Boots of the Gloom-bane (White, skirm camp cosmetics vendor - Rift Heavy Armor)

**White is also another alternative for these gloves, though it will make the brown areas of the palms stand out.



Head: Turquoise Summer Circlet (Turquoise, LOTRO Store or Anniversary Festival gift-box reward)
Shoulders: Shoulders of the Westfold (Default, Rise of Isengard pre-order cosmetic)
Chest: Gossamer Dress (Turquoise, skirm camp cosmetics vendor)



Shoulders: Snow-dusted Traveling Shoulders (Black, Yule Festival barter reward)
Back: Plain Cloak (Turquoise, any starter area Outfitter)***
Chest: Sellsword's Hauberk (Turquoise, LOTRO Store or random lockbox reward)
Hands: Dunland Caretaker's Patched Bracers (Black, Dunland quest reward)**
Feet: Ceremonial Shoes of the Stone-student (Black, skirm camp cosmetics vendor - Moria Light Armor)

**Skin is available at Lalia's Market at the time of posting.
***Black is also a lovely alternative for the cloak here, though I prefer the turquoise for color balance.

6 comments:

  1. Nice work matching the odd colours of this steed! I really like the first one, with the shoulders that match the swirls on the tack :)

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    Replies
    1. Not having this particular mount made it difficult to match the colors. Not everybody has the same in-game settings as me, and I'm wasn't sure if you did, but your picture was the biggest and clearest that I could find. It really helped me hunker down and start matching those colors. The caparison was not so large or overdone that I couldn't use the colors of the horse's coat or hooves.

      After spending the time to put these outfits together, I can't choose one I like the best. However, those shoulders are my favorite part of the the first outfit. I wouldn't have expected that particular Rift set to work so well! They may not have elvish origins, but have that lovely trim that dyes white.

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  2. Thank you so much Nathrien! (This is Arae) That dress is one of my favourites and I do have some of those other pieces too. I'll definitely be playing around with the turquoise dye - I'd been trying steel blue and not getting very far. Thanks again for the time you put into this, and the other outfit suggestions that didn't end up working too :) :) You're a star!

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome! It was an absolute pleasure working on these. I tried to keep them to the easier to obtain cosmetics, as I know very few people who have a collection my size or who have dropped cash on the store like me over the years. Believe it or not, that dress was the first item to pop into my mind--something small, something simple, not quite knowing how far I'd get with it--because it dyes wholly one color while retaining its elaborate white embroidery.

      Turquoise used on clothing with a dark base is the best way match the caparison. Lighter bases are also wonderful alternatives to complimenting it too. As for steel blue? That didn't occur to me. I can see something that delightfully attempts to match the steed's coat. It might be a challenging route, but it's not impossible.

      And thank you again for the lovely suggestions! :)

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  3. I absolutely love all the combinations in the outfits - you've incorporated the colors of the stead so well. I've always found turquoise a hard color to use, but perhaps I haven't played around with enough combinations.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Makaia! Turquoise can be a challenging color, which is one of the reasons why I rarely use it. I've found that it's one of those colors that can easily overtake all others in clothing because it can appear as a dark, earthy teal or something akin to a bright sea blue. But that's just my experience with it :)

      You know what color I've found impossible to use since day one? Yellow. Hands down. :p

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